NP Rank:
Twitter's Massive Security Flaw
UK Search Engine specialist Dave Naylor uncovered a flaw on Monday that showed how Twitter accounts could be hijacked with a simple scripting technique that could lead to users personal details being hijacked or accounts used for any number of nefarious purposes.
Nearly 48 hours later, the vulnerability still exists - despite Twitter's claims to have fixed the problem. As the finder of the flaw pointed out:
With a few minutes work, someone with a bit of technical expertise could make a Twitter ‘application’ and start sending tweets with it. Using the simple instructions below, it can be arranged so that if another Twitter user so much as sees one of these tweets - and they are logged in to Twitter - their account could be taken over.
Coming on the heels of other documented problems with the site, this has to raise questions about the viability of Twitter as a platform - and about the care with which the company treats its userbase.
With millions of users still using the site, unaware of the flaws that could lead to their accounts being used for and no official word from the company as yet, this could run and run...
Most Recommended Comment
Crowd Power
-
CynicalPatriot
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Recommendations (46)
-
Barbara McPherson
Nanaimo, Canada 
Anonymous users (2)
-
Beaulieu
London, United Kingdom -
Spydermonkey
huntsville, Alabama, United States -
Jordan Yerman
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada -
Yuliya Talmazan
Burnaby, Canada




Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (2)
at 07:37 on August 26th, 2009
This sounds serious.
at 07:40 on August 26th, 2009
I'd stay off Twitter for the moment if I were you...